No. 1-ranked football recruit Da'Shawn Hand / Courtesy of rivals.com

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Detroit Free Press Sports Writer

Rivals.com’s No. 1 overall 2014 prospect, defensive end Da’Shawn Hand of Woodbridge, Va., has narrowed his list of potential colleges to three: Alabama, Florida and Michigan, though he also said he might take official visits to LSU and USC.

He made the announcement in interviews with recruiting outlets rivals.com, gobluewolverine.com, espn.com’s WolverineNation this morning.

The biggest surprise is that he dropped Virginia Tech from his list. He repeatedly had cited Tech defensive coordinator Bud Foster as his favorite assistant coach. Hand also eliminated South Carolina.

According Hand’s conversations with the recruiting gurus, U-M is staying in the mix partially because of its academic focus.